HCR 86

ENROLLED
2026 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 86 (Substitute for House Concurrent
Resolution No. 15 by Representative LaCombe)
BY REPRESENTATIVES LACOMBE, BUTLER, COATES, DEWITT, ECHOLS,
     FIRMENT, MARTINEZ, AND SAWYER AND SENATORS BOUDREAUX,
     CARTER, CATHEY, EDMONDS, HENRY, JENKINS, LAMBERT, MIGUEZ,
     MIZELL, MYERS, PRESSLY, AND PRICE
  A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
To express legislative support for a request by Senator John N. Kennedy of Louisiana to the
       United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to initiate a formal study to
       evaluate how land use changes and habitat loss affect migratory waterfowl
       productivity and breeding population distribution, behavior, wintering distributions,
       and associated economic outcomes in the Mississippi Flyway.
       WHEREAS, Senator John N. Kennedy of Louisiana wrote a letter to the USFWS
concerning the recent decline in annual waterfowl migration to Louisiana; and
       WHEREAS, as a result of continental wetland loss and changes to land use and
policy, substantial landscape alteration has occurred in areas important to Mississippi
Flyway waterfowl hunters; and
       WHEREAS, data from the USFWS shows that the Louisiana wintering mallard
population declined from approximately eight hundred thousand in 1999, to three hundred
thousand in 2018, representing a three and two-tenths of a percent average annual decline
over those years, the largest decline in mallards among the fourteen states in the Mississippi
Flyway; and
       WHEREAS, this same data also shows that states to the north, from Iowa to
Mississippi, have observed average annual increases in their mallard populations of roughly
eleven percent; and
  Page 1 of 2
HCR NO. 86  ENROLLED
       WHEREAS, the annual mallard harvest in Louisiana declined by approximately
ninety-five percent between 1999 and 2021, marking the most significant decline among
states within the Mississippi Flyway; and
       WHEREAS, fewer waterfowl migrating south will likely accelerate this decline in
harvest, leading to additional losses in conservation revenues and other funding sources that
support wildlife habitat programs; and
       WHEREAS, in anticipation of improving habitat in the breeding grounds and in
Louisiana to increase the numbers of wintering waterfowl in Louisiana, Senator John N.
Kennedy has requested that the USFWS conduct a study examining migratory waterfowl
behavior, their habitats, winter distribution patterns, and related economic effects within the
Mississippi Flyway.
       THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
express its support for the request by Senator John N. Kennedy to the USFWS to conduct
a study to evaluate variables that contribute to the observed changes in migratory waterfowl
behavior, winter distributions, continental populations, and related economic outcomes in
the Mississippi Flyway.
       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be forwarded to the
director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
  SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
  PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
  Page 2 of 2